Measurement of 90Sr in contaminated Fukushima soils using liquid scintillation counter

Abstract

A method based on liquid scintillation counting system has been developed for the measurement of (90)Sr in Fukushima soil samples due to contamination of (134)Cs and (137)Cs. Three soil samples were collected within 30 km radius from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP). Activity concentration of (134)Cs and (137)Cs were measured using a gamma spectroscopy system with high-purity germanium detector. (90)Sr contamination is little elevated but comparable with the background contamination level that originated from atmospheric nuclear weapon tests, whereas radiocesium contamination has increased significantly. Activity concentration of (90)Sr in the soil samples varied in the range of 10.4±0.6-22.0±1.2 Bq kg(-1). Activity concentrations of (134)Cs and (137)Cs in the soil samples were in the range of 28.2±0.2-56.3±0.2 kBq kg(-1) and 35.2±0.1-70.2±0.2 kBq kg(-1), respectively (reference date for decay correction is 1 December 2011).

Strontium-90 activity concentration in soil samples from the exclusion zone of the Fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant

“…1–4 and No. 7–9) were recently published elsewhere as preliminary results of this study 21 22 and discussed here again to establish an extended database on 90 Sr. A little contaminated area (No. 3), along north direction, was also monitored to compare with background 90 Sr concentration.…”

“…Standard solutions were prepared using high-purity water (>18 MΩ cm −1 ) produced with the Milli-Q2 TM water purification system. The detailed procedure for the separation of strontium is discussed elsewhere 22 34 . To summarize, the chemically digested soil samples (10–15 g) were dissolved in 8M HNO 3 to ensure the highest strontium retention on Sr resin.…”

“…Gamma emitter radionuclides such as iodine, tellurium and caesium isotopes 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 have been published and studied much more extensively after the Fukushima accident than the pure beta emitter radiostrontium isotopes 21 22 23 24 . The explanation of this phenomenon is in the measurement technique: it is much simpler to measure gamma than pure beta emitters.…”

Radioactivity and radionuclides in deciduous teeth formed before the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident

“…The Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) accident during March 2011 released substantial amounts of radionuclides into the atmosphere, resulting in extensive environmental contamination [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] .…”

Radioactivity level and concentration of metals in waters around power plants application of potential method for pollution assessment

“…The anal y sis re sults are im por tant con sid er ing that the Serbian pop u la tion is dom i nantly sup plied with wa ter from some of the rivers en dan gered by op er a tions of coal-fired power plants. The con tent of Sr, K, and Pb in wa ters sur round ing of the coal-fired power plants was de ter mined, with spe cial at ten tion to their cor re sponding ra dio ac tive iso topes: 90 Sr (one of the most bi o log ically haz ard ous ar ti fi cial radionuclides and as the presenter of "nu clear" pol lu tion, 40 K (due to ter res trial or i gin, as well as, its good sol u bil ity in wa ter) and 210 Pb (as nat u ral gamma emit ter with an or i gin in atmo spheric de po si tion; ra don gas, as well as soil suspen sion), in or der to iden tify the or i gin and es ti ma tion of key pol lu tion sources which af fect these wa ters [12,13]. Be sides that, the ob jec tive is to pro vide in sight into the cur rent con di tion of wa ter sys tems and to propose a po ten tial method for pol lu tion as sess ment.…”